StingRay, Lumphy, and Plastic are the three favorite companions of Little Girl. StingRay gets to sleep on the bed, but Lumphy and Plastic are rarely far away. Of course, there is the time only Lumphy is chosen to go on a picnic. The little buffalo ends up covered in peanut butter and must face “the terrifying bigness of the washing machine” on his own. And there is the time that StingRay, feeling unloved when Plastic is chosen for a trip to the beach, makes a solitary journey to the bathtub, determined to swim despite a tag that reads “Dry Clean Only.” And then there is Plastic’s identity crisis (what is a plastic?), when friends can provide little consolation. Chapters detailing these and other tenderly funny experiences will resonate with young readers and listeners on several levels, whether giving them the satisfaction of understanding things the naïve characters do not (what is plastic and round and bounces?) or echoing feelings they know so well themselves, from insecurity and fear to compassion and, above all, love. (Ages 6–9)